This is a request for expression of interest – it is not a request to submit a bid, a proposal, or a financial offer.

If your firm would be interested in working on the UNICEF Innovation Fund website (details below), please send an email to unicef.jobs@gmail.com stating

Name of firm, contact person, and that you are interested

by the 2nd of April, 2015 (Thursday).

We will respond to all expressions of interest with a full RFP process. Please do not send bids or design documents at this stage.

Terms of Reference forDesign & Development of the Innovation Fund Website

Location: Working Remotely

Duration: Approximately 3 months

BACKGROUND

The Innovation Unit includes 12 Innovation labs, an Innovation Centre in Nairobi, and Country Offices worldwide where we have staff working to identify, incubate, and scale innovation projects around the world. Much of the work is fueled by the Innovation Fund, a fund that takes a venture capital approach to investing in projects in three main portfolios: real time information, youth engagement, and access to information. The 3 portfolios consist of approximately 300 projects identified through a recent mapping of all innovation work at our country offices.

We have selected 63 projects for our first round of funding, with the second round of identification and funding slated to begin in the summer of 2015. As a next step to the Fund’s implementation and to ensure that a support model is established for current and potential donors and UNICEF staff, the UNICEF Innovation Unit is looking to create a highly interactive website for both internal and external stakeholders. The stakeholders include but are not limited to current and potential funders, country offices, the development community, as well as UNICEF staff worldwide.

SCOPE OF WORK

The overall purpose of this assignment is to design and develop a highly interactive website with 2 major components:

a donor report tool that lets current donors create, export and share customized PDFs based on portfolio information, status, and projects of their interest. The data pulled will be visualized and resemble a mutual fund status report;

an interactive map with functionalities that allow UNICEF Innovation staff to easily input, update, and export data (quantitative and qualitative) on UNICEF’s innovation projects around the world.

As a result, the site will serve as the main information access point for all Innovation Fund funded projects and stories around the world.

The Company is expected to work closely with the Innovation Fund Team under the UNICEF Innovation Unit in scoping the design and technical requirements of this assignment while providing very regular updates and feedback on its progress. The Company will also work closely with our team to visualize varying qualitative and quantitative data and turn them into compelling stories. The Company is expected to advise the Innovation Fund team on relevant new technology industry standards and best practices based on expertise and available business intelligence. The Company can work virtually on this assignment, with possible opportunities to visit UNICEF Innovation Unit in New York.

The basic assumption is that it will be responsive and will work seamlessly and consistently in all major viewports. The Company is expected to leverage successful and open-source systems and tools.

REQUIREMENTS

The Company should design and develop the website while keeping in mind the following considerations:

Audience

existing and potential donor organizations;

country offices and innovation labs seeking funding for innovation projects;

UNICEF staff.

Form and Function
It should strike an elegant balance between exploration and utility for all audiences—between information access and storytelling, and between cultivating new funding and innovation sources and maintaining existing relationships.

Donor Report
Users are able to enter their information, select interests and preferences, and download and share a customized, in-depth report via a simple and fluid interface. Users will be able to choose between a tailored report or a general one. The content will be pulled from both quantitative and qualitative data that admin and internal users have entered for individual innovation projects via a CMS.

Data visualizationUsers are able to understand the scope, impact, and metrics for projects and portfolios through dynamic data visualization. The Company will play a central role in conceptualizing and identifying optimal visualization techniques that will help unify our varying datasets; identify ways for automation and keep them current, customizable and accessible; and turning them into a compelling story and a rich interactive experience.

MappingUsers are able to explore via the innovation map all UNICEF’s innovation projects worldwide. The default view on the Innovation Fund site will be Innovation Fund funded projects with programme indications. Users can apply on-screen filters (or drawer) and customize their views based on programmes, portfolios, regions, funding stages, etc. Admin and internal users are able to enter new innovation projects, delete outdated ones, and export the data into excel or csv formats. Entries will be reviewed and approved before appearing on the map.

Content Exploration
Users are able to explore content for all current and past innovation projects and related stories as well as each funding portfolios that include a combination of text, images, videos, and data visualization.

Content Creation, Editing, and Publishing (CMS)Internal users and admins are able to create, edit and publish different types of content pages. There will be flexibility to add or subtract content blocks on any given content pages.

Content Sharing and APIsOther funding agencies are able to share, embed, and dynamically pull and post content and data from our database of projects and stories.

EXPECTED KEY TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

Planning

Collaborate with the UNICEF Innovation Unit and Innovation Fund team in documenting user stories for design and development;

Collaborate with the UNICEF Innovation Unit and Innovation Fund team to identify optimal data visualization techniques to unify our varying datasets and tell a story;

Produce an information architecture document;

Visual and Interaction Design

Design wireframes that address all major functional, UX, and interaction design requirements, preferably as interactive prototypes that show user flows.

Produce data visualization sketches;

Produce and present a design concept in the form of a mood board and sample data visualization mockups;

Produce a set of hi-fi design mockups based on the chosen concept for each type of content pages, the donor report interface, as well as the mapping interface;

Produce hi-fi design mockups of sample data visualizations;

Create master style sheets and page templates.

Development

Develop a content management system that allows for automating, generating, editing, and publishing different types of content. The list of content includes:

Homepage

Donor reporting tool (see No. 4)

Projects and related stories

Innovation map

Identify, integrate, and customize an open-source mapping tool with filters that correspond with project and story metadata. Users will need to be able to easily input, update, and export information. Data should be downloadable in excel and csv formats. If a subscription-based service is chosen, UNICEF will be expected to cover the cost of the subscription;

Please email unicef.jobs(at)gmail.com by Thursday, April 2, 2015. Use subject line “Innovation Fund Website Design & Development”. Share the contact at your firm, as well as confirming your interest in this project, and we will respond within the coming weeks.

@UNICEFINNOVATE Tweets

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About This Site

This site contains a sampling of UNICEF’s Innovation initiatives, resources, media coverage, and first person posts on how UNICEF country offices are creating innovations in programme, process, partnership and product.